Not Really Lost
by ncfan
Summary: When they first meet, Byakuya is lost and Hisana helps him find his way.


**Characters**: Byakuya, Hisana  
**Summary**: When they first meet, Byakuya is lost and Hisana helps him find his way.  
**Pairings**: Byakuya x Hisana  
**Warnings/Spoilers**: Spoilers for Soul Society arc  
**Timeline**: Pre-manga  
**Author's Note**: There's probably stories upon stories of the day when Byakuya and Hisana first met, but I'm going to write anyway.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach.

* * *

The dust of Rukongai still makes Byakuya cough when it clusters in his mouth, even though he knows it shouldn't. Or maybe that's just the feeling that comes to him when he knows he's lost his way in the middle of a place he should know like the back of his hand.

Secretly embarrassed and mortified, Byakuya stares around, trying to find some landmark that's recognizable in the empty streets as little dust devils spin on by. There is nothing.

He'll have to ask for help.

"Excuse me?" Byakuya calls up to them, the women who are on break at the large store in front of him, loitering on the porch because there's nowhere to go while on break. "Can someone help me?" It kills his pride to ask, but Byakuya does have common sense and he knows that if he ever wants to get back to Seireitei he's going to have to ask for directions. Out of the group of women, about half a dozen in all, the smallest of the group is the one who breaks away.

The girl who steps down to greet him from the store has cheeks like wilting flowers. Still flushed with color, but color past ripeness, starting to fade into pallor, perhaps out of ill health. She is still lovely in her own way, though, slight and tiny (though she is, like so many of the people Byakuya has met in that impoverished sector of Rukongai, slightly emaciated, bones sticking out where they shouldn't be and becoming prominent at wrists so fragile that they look like they could be snapped with one sharp twist) with thick, coal black hair framing her face, somehow so glossy that it has a blue shine, and possessing huge violet eyes, tinged with indigo blue at the edges. Her dark, blue-violet yukata is ragged at the edges, and she's barefoot.

For a moment, when she looks up at him, there is a slight awe in dark eyes, but the girl overcomes it quickly and asks, "How can I help you?" Her attempts at a smile are half-hearted; her eyes are heavy and strangely sad, and do not quite meet Byakuya's gaze. At the same time, heavy eyes are strangely wide, tense and alert. In this laziness of the summer heat, she is ill at ease and nervous.

Her sadness strikes a strange chord with Byakuya, who can not claim to have ever much cared about such things before, but he discards twinges for the moment and answers her, relieved to have someone there who's willing to help him. "I'm afraid I've lost my way," he admits ruefully, hands twisting inside his sleeves. He wonders if it is the uniform of the Shinigami that makes her avert her eyes.

She nods, suddenly quite businesslike and Byakuya's forced to wonder if she's hiding humor. The thought rankles his already wounded pride. "Well, sir, where do you want to go? I hope I'll be able to be of some service to you." The word "service" is expelled from her tongue like a dirty word, something with ill-meaning, and Byakuya is curious, despite himself. He later wishes he had never deigned to ask what makes her hate the word so much.

"I…" Byakuya hesitates slightly, wondering how to word his request and frowning, because he's never been at a loss for words before "…I am trying to find my way back to Seireitei."

Violet eyes open even wider than before, and Byakuya for one second has the insane belief that the girl is going to turn and bolt like some rabbit being chased by bloodthirsty hounds. She doesn't (Byakuya is relieved, and chalks it up to knowing that he has _not_ scared off yet another unsuspecting resident of Rukongai), and opens her mouth to speak, but before she can speak a word, one of the women on the porch cups her mouth in her hands and calls,

"Break time's over in five minutes, Hisana! Quit talking with your boyfriend and hurry up!"

Byakuya shoots a sharp glare up at the porch, unable to identify the speaker. Hisana shushes her, whoever she is.

Strangely enough, it is this that seems to give Hisana the boldness to speak in normal tones and meet Byakuya's smoke gray eyes squarely. "I can show you the way to Seireitei, if you wish. I can't just point you in the right direction and say 'Go that way.'"

It's a matter of reluctance, but Byakuya can see the practicality in it. "Alright. I'm willing to pay you, once we get back—"

"That won't be needed." Now, her voice is unusually firm, brooking no opposition. Craning her neck to stare upwards, Hisana's face breaks into a hesitant, but full, smile. She holds her hands out, palms up. Faint color flashes in cheeks like wilted flowers. "Just… let me show you the way home."


End file.
